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About a week ago, I was invited to experience a brand new foundation launched by Shiseido - the Sheer and Perfect Foundation. Shiseido makeup is something I've been familiar with for a very long time. Since I can remember, I've seen that iconic blue and orange compact packaging that Shiseido used to have on my Mom's dresser, and I remember wanting so badly to have a Shiseido compact powder of my own.

Okay, enough with the reminiscing and on to the actual review. I was sent home with a generous pack of their lovely Sheer and Perfect foundation as well as their concealer, both of which I will be reviewing in today's post.

The Sheer and Perfect Foundation is one of those new-formulation foundations, and is very similar to the Estée Lauder Double Wear Light, the Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua, and the Benefit Hello Flawless. I would say that it is most similar to the Double Wear Light because it is very fluid and lightweight. As with all these foundations, you need to shake the bottle up before you squeeze the foundation out, otherwise you end up with separated liquid. Shiseido recommends that you apply this foundation with their cult-favourite foundation brush, and I agree. I like a little more coverage to my foundations, so I like that when I use their brush, I get a good, even coverage, but my skin still shines through the makeup. This foundation feels lovely on the skin, almost like you're not wearing any foundation at all. It also covers my pores, acne scars and blackheads quite well, though I still need to apply concealer after if I want my skin to look flawless. The finish of this foundation starts matte with a little bit of glow, and only lets a little tiny bit of oil through towards the middle of the day. I would say it is well-suited for normal to combination skins, but if you get quite oily, you might need a mattifying primer or a more matte foundation altogether.

Pre-foundation

Foundation applied with Shiseido foundation brush

The concealer is the perfect complementing product to the foundation. The little tube holds plenty of product, and the concealer itself is very pigmented, but light. It will not cake or crease, and it only takes a tiny amount to cover any imperfections. What's weird about this product is that it seems to oxidise on my hand and my cheeks, but not on my undereye area. Bear that in mind when you try it out, and ask the SA for a couple of shades so you can try them out first to see how they sit on your skin. I truly love this product for the under eyes, because of its light texture and pigment. It won't cover extremely dark circles without the help of a brightener or a couple of extra layers, but regular dark circles vanish when I use this. It also lasts a very, very long time with minimal need for touch ups. I need a bit more coverage when it comes to my acne scars though, so I use this on regular days (and I find it pretty satisfactory - maybe about 90% covered) and bust out the big guns on special occasions.

The Shiseido Sheer and Perfect Foundation and the Shiseido Natural Finish Cream Concealer are available on counters now.